Page 48 Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 201948 femailMAGAZINE
He is the
first to bring
me flowers
on a date
Blind date
He tried to explain it by saying
he was shy but also he worked
in the Armed Forces and couldn’t
have his real identity in the
public eye.
Honestly these men must think
we were born yesterday!
My attitude to putting myself
forward for a blind date was, ‘Why
wouldn’t I apply?’ My friends
were all very curious about it, too.
We’re all so tired of the dating
scene, it’s a welcome chance to
be matched by someone else!
I’d love to stay in touch withFahad as friends. We spent
almost three hours together, but
that’s no surprise because he’s a
nice, kind man who I suspect is
liked by most people.
We walked out together and he
gave me a hug. Fahad very
sweetly offered me a lift to
wherever I needed to go, but I
was meeting a girlfriend at a wine
bar. While I’m not the one for
Fahad I know the right person is
out there.
LIKED: I had a lovely evening andit was a great blind
date experience.
REGRETS: None.
COFFEE OR CAB? Coffee.VERDICT: 7/10
FAHAD, 29, SAYS:
THougH I move in different
social circles to Aimee, I’m pretty
sure there was a little bit of
chemistry between us. Aimee is
someone I wouldn’t come acrossin my everyday life, yet we had
so much in common and it
made for a lively evening.
Even though I arrived ten min-
utes early, Aimee was already
waiting for me. The restaurant
was a great choice and our table
was discreetly positioned so we
wouldn’t be disturbed, which
made for a lovely atmosphere.
Aimee is incredibly pretty and
she looked pleasantly surprised
when I handed over the rose, it
was a good icebreaker! If I’mhonest I wasn’t expecting a
lot from my first blind date,
so the fact that we got on so
well was a pleasant surprise
for me. We talked about
childhoods, hobbies and
interests. We even covered
past relationships and
where we see ourselves in
the future.
I’ve had four serious rela-
tionships and it hasn’t
helped that most of them
have been long distance.
When I was at university in
London my girlfriend was in
Manchester studying.
My most recent relation-
ship was with a girl who
lives in New Jersey in the
united States.
We’d met on Instagram and
it was a natural progression to
meet and introduce one
another to our families.
My family were sceptical, but
once they saw us together they
were supportive. But then their
instincts were proved correct I
suppose when we broke up!
Since then, other dates just
haven’t gone anywhere. But I’m
the firstborn so the pressure is
on! While I did think I’d be mar-
ried and settled by 25, I suspect
it’ll be more like my early 30s now
— and that’s being optimistic.
My friends were all encouraging
about me going on a blind date.
until a year ago everyone in my
social circle was single, now I’m
the last single man standing.
I was nervous about meeting
someone new. I was a shy child
and I had a stutter whenever I
was uncomfortable in social
situations. To force myself out of
my shell in my late teens, I did
some acting. They were just roles
as an extra on the soaps but it
did wonders for my confidence.
I don’t have a type. There has
to be an attraction, but other-
wise she would be compassionate,
definitely not shallow, and in
possession of a robust sense
of humour, because I can
be pretty goofy! I go to
the gym and enjoy box-
ing training. I exchanged
numbers with Aimee
and we have befriended one
another on social media. We
would never have met if we
hadn’t gone on a blind date. I’m
glad we did because we clicked.
LIKED: I smiled and laughed a lot.
Aimee’s great company.
REGRETS: None.
COFFEE OR CAB? Coffee.VERDICT: 9/10
Interviews:
SAMANTHA BRICKE
vEry week we send a
couple on a blind date
and report back. This
time, Fahad Haq, 29, had
dinner at Le garrick in
Covent garden, London, with
Aimee Long, 26.
Fahad is a property manager and lives
in Stratford, East London. Aimee is a
business owner and lives in West London.
Neither has been married.AIMEE, 26, SAYS:
I’d LIkE to think I’d made a friend on
my blind date. While there wasn’t any
chemistry on my part, I really got on
well with Fahad. He’s different to the
type of chap I normally date but that
didn’t stop us talking.
I arrived 30 minutes early so I was
able to catch up on emails over a glass
of wine. I don’t normally go out in Cen-
tral London, but Le garrick was lovely.
Fahad arrived ten minutes before our
reservation and presented me with a rose,
which was rather sweet. other women
might be embarrassed, but I wasn’t.
It’s the first time a guy has brought me
flowers on a first date.
As we started to chat I found we have
very similar backgrounds and are close to
our families. We also have similar tastes
when it comes to food and we shared the
calamari platter to start, followed by the
salmon and ratatouille for our main
course and we each had the cheesecake
to finish.
I’ve had two long-term relationships,
one lasted four years and then another
that lasted two years. The first was seri-
ous and the second one rather less so.
I was pretty devastated to discover
that they’d both been unfaithful.
That probably explains why I’ve been
single for 18 months!
My passion is fitness and I post about it on
social media. I do get approached a lot
online but I don’t even accept private mes-
sages from men any more.
dating apps aren’t great either. you’ve
seconds to decide on someone and I’ve
probably missed out on potentially great
dates because of how the apps are set up.
The most standout awful date was with a
guy who used pictures of his brother for his
profile. His brother was a body builder and
yet he clearly wasn’t when we met!WOULD YOU LIKE US TO FIND YOU A DATE?
ARE you a singleton, or is there someone you’d like to
send on a blind date? Email: [email protected]TOP DATING TIPS
M LONG-distance romances can work. But
it’s important to reflect on whether you can
maintain a relationship that means
you’re 40 or 4000 miles apart.
M TRAVELLING outside your
usual social haunts means
you’re opening yourself
up to the possibility
of meeting
someone
new.I’m the last
single man
among my
friends